The BERC Group is an independent evaluation, research, and consulting firm focused on putting research into practice. Our mission is to skillfully gather, analyze, and use data to inform, inspire, and improve all learning organizations.

Dr. Duane Baker, President of The BERC Group, and Lisa Law, Research Associate at The BERC Group, review all the details of a STAR Data Collection (or STAR Classroom Observation). A good conversation about what to expect for schools getting observed.

Washington lawmakers see evaluation of the teacher as the “lynchpin to educational reform” in the state. The legislature in SB 6696 established several guidelines to develop the new Teacher and Principal Evaluation System, and legislation governing this system has passed. The state is now in the process of piloting three different frameworks, through the Educational Service Districts (ESDs), for potential use in the system: Danielson, Marzano, and 5D+. In the state law and on the Teacher/Principal Evaluation Pilot (TPEP) website the term “instructional framework” is used to build the case for and to describe the three frameworks. The use of this term to describe these three evaluation models has proven to be confusing for many educators across the state, and the purpose of this post is to explore the source of the confusion and to suggest a solution.

At the heart of the confusion is the mixing of terms. The primary issue is that there is a difference between the word “teacher” and the word “teaching.” Teacher is a noun. Teaching is a verb. Teaching (v) is just one part of being a teacher (n). Charlotte Danielson makes sure that followers of her model clearly understand this difference: “The framework for professional practice represents all aspects of a teacher’s responsibilities that are reflected in daily work.” She goes on, “The framework is comprehensive, referring not only to what occurs in the classroom, of course, but also to what happens outside the walls (p.14, Enhancing Professional Practice, 1996).” The things that happen outside the classroom walls are not necessarily teaching, although they are still part of what makes up a good teacher. SB 6696 is concerned with evaluating the teacher, not just the teaching.

Notice anything new? If you're reading this then you most likely did. We recently released a new version of our website with the primary goals of providing more and better content and to provide a forum for interaction with the world of education (i.e. this blog, but we're also committed to publishing more videos and research). At the same time, we also did a little housekeeping on the structure and design. Enjoy!

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